CMO Summit: Driving corporate culture

San Jose, Calif.—In addition to their many other roles, CMOs must foster the culture of their organizations, panelists said Thursday at the CMO Council North America Summit 2010.

“It is our responsibility as the CMO to really drive the culture of the organization,” said Charles Lawrence, general manager of the North American Luxury Products Group of Franke, a Switzerland-based manufacturer of stainless steel products for commercial and home kitchens.

This is especially important, Lawrence said, when the CEO doesn’t have a marketing background and is more focused on the numbers.

Lawrence was a panelist in a session titled “Shared Vision, Values and Cultural DNA During Transformational Times.”

Another panelist, Lauren Flaherty, exec VP-CMO of Juniper Networks, discussed how her company focused on internal messaging to its 8,000 global employees last year when it launched its new brand positioning: “The new network is here.”

Such internal engagement is crucial when it comes to external marketing, Flaherty said. “If it’s not real on the inside, it’s not real on the outside,” she said.

“If you’re part of Juniper, you know about the ‘Juniper way,’ ” Flaherty said. “Juniper has a story. Juniper has values. Juniper has a destination.”